Ben Stoking, the Hanoi bureau chief for AP, “was punched, choked and hit over the head with a camera by police who detained him” today while he was covering a Catholic prayer vigil and demonstration, AP reported. He was released two-and-a-half hours later and required four stitches in his head.

Catholics were protesting the Vietnamese government’s move to build a garden and library on the grounds of the former nunciature, which Catholics have been saying should be returned to the church. Redemptorist priests who run a nearby parish sent the alert to Catholic news agencies, including the Asian church’s UCA News.